A Heineken spokesman, David Pugh, said: "As a leading premium brand, we are constantly evaluating potential sponsorship and partnership opportunities. This includes F1 as well as many other sports properties.

"We currently have an outstanding complementary global portfolio of sponsorships and partnerships including UEFA Champions League, Rugby World Cup and the James Bond franchise.

"We will not speculate on what we might do in the future as this is commercially sensitive."

Heineken's involvement in F1 would be a major boost for a sport which has lost sponsorship at an alarming rate in recent times.

In April this year, FT.com reported that the 10 F1 teams raised $750 million in 2015, $200 million lower than three years ago.

Declining TV audiences and at the circuits have seen sponsors shun F1, with the lack of competitive racing cited as the main reason.